Looking for ideas for a novel Christmas treat for a loved one this year?

27 November 2017 Admin BE

Looking for ideas for a novel Christmas treat for a loved one this year? If so, a dose of Disney magic might be just the job.

Tickets are now on sale for “Disney In Concert” which features well-loved music and screen footage from some of the best-known films in the history of cinema. After a worldwide tour, this much-loved show is coming to Brussels and the timing couldn’t be better as it is in time for Christmas.

A huge part of what makes Disney films perennial favourites is their glorious, sometimes irreverent, funny, romantic, and always memorable music. “Disney In Concert Magical Music from the Movies” features the hit songs of family favourites like Frozen, Tangled, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Aladdin. All these (and more) of your favourite Disney movies are accompanied by 80 musicians and four top soloists. The impressive line up of artists/singers also has a real international flavour with one of the soloists being a former X Factor winner.

The show has proved a hit around the world and, after performances in cities like San Francisco, Melbourne, Dublin and Seattle, this magical concert is now being performed next month for the first time in Belgium. The European Philharmonia, led by Walter Proost, will accompany the musicians as they unlock the rich musical world of Disney. The Disney magic will come to life through a unique combination of the unforgettable music and legendary images from some of the most famous Disney films.

Appealing to people of all ages, this is a completely new way to experience the music of Disney – the stories and characters – all through unforgettable melodies. There will be two linguistic versions when the show comes to Brussels. On 26 December, Disney In Concert will be performed in French while the following day (27 December) is the Flemish version. Both are at Palais 12 in Brussels.

The soloists for the French version include Belgium-born Roxane Le Texier, a comedian and singer whose passion for the stage started at the tender age of just nine. One of her first starring roles was in 1789, les amants de la Bastille.

She will line up with Candice Parise, a French national of Spanish and American origins who trained at the London School of Musical Theatre. She debuted as Crissy in Hair in Paris and has also appeared as Dorothy in a production of the Wizard of Oz at Brussels’ Forest National. In 2017, she was a participant in the French version of The Voice.

Another soloist is Dan Menasche, an actor and singer who has appeared as Sky in Mamma Mia and also starred as Billy in Dirty Dancing. Completing the quartet is Sebastien Agius, the partner of Roxane who spent his early years on the island of Reunion before moving to Paris, aged 18. Trained in song, dance and theatre he too appeared in 1789, les amants de la Bastille and won the first series of the X Factor back in 2009.

The four soloists for the Flemish version of the concert are Elke Buyle, Deborah De Ridder, Giovanni Kemper and Gene Thomas. Buyle has performed in various musicals while De Ridder appeared in the production in Malta, England and Germany. Kemper has appeared in Oliver!, Peter Pan, The Lion King and the Little Mermaid while Thomas started his solo career in 2003 and recently launched a new single.

The show has been lauded everywhere it has performed around the world, including by Steven Reineke, Music Director of The New York Pops, who said, “Disney in Concert is a beautifully crafted programme with top notch arrangements and medleys of Disney’s greatest hits.” He added, “Add to that the wonderful video presentation and four talented soloists and you have a terrific concert for young and old alike. The musicians and I thoroughly enjoyed performing this show as much as the audience loved watching it.”

The concert is being promoted by a leading Belgian company, MB Presents, which was founded in 2006 and services the entertainment industry. This full-length show is sure to enchant Belgian audiences. It sprinkles a little bit of Disney magic for everyone …. and also makes an ideal Christmas gift!

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